The Way Home
by hinakyrie
Summary: Megumi reflects on the past few years on her way home from a day out on the job.


The Way Home

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me.

I stifled a yawn and stretched out my cramping back. It had been a hard house visit, but the difficult delivery had turned out fine in the end. The new parents, though as tired as I was, radiated pure smiles looking at their newborn baby.

"Thank you so much," Haji said to me.

I smiled. "You're welcome. As a doctor, there's nothing quite like bringing life into the world." _Especially when you used to be one that took life away._ Thankfully, I'd been saved, but some of my earliest memories of ethically practicing medicine involved patching up my friends when they had been on the brink of death. The babies and natural illnesses I've had since Kenshin's battle with Enshi had become relaxing and much more peaceful. Hard to believe that it had already been six years since those more chaotic times.

Early moonlight flitted into the window as I started gathering my supplies. Haji blinked. "We have a spare bedroom. Are you sure you want to leave at night?"

"I'll be fine."

"At least let him walk you home," Ayuni, Haji's wife, said, concern palpitating her words.

"You rest up. I'm a big girl, and Haji needs to be here with you." I looked over at him. "The baby has been feed, so Ayuni needs some sleep. Tomorrow have her start to get up and move a little, but tonight you're on baby duty." It was true, Haji and Ayuni were a newer family to the area and had no family members nearby to lend a helping hand. I wiped the sweat off of Ayuni's face one more time, gave her shoulder a squeeze, and continued, "I'll come check in on all of you in a couple of days."

As I wandered out into the fresh air, I took a breath. The fresh air was nice and helped clear my head. I continued walking back towards my home. I passed Kenshin and Kaoru's place and heard Kaoru lightly scolding Kenji for not wanting to go to bed and thought about stopping. However, it was late enough that stopping would just have inconvenienced them. It had been a few days, so I would probably swing by after my clinical hours tomorrow anyway.

Even after all of these years, they were some of the closest and dearest people in my life. It had been an honor watching them come together and being alongside Dr. Genzai when he delivered Kenji. Kaoru and I had both tried to send Kenshin out fishing that day, but he had refused to move. He sat outside, hand clenching the reverse blade sword, hearing Kaoru's screams of childbirth. Granted, Kaoru's birthing was one of the smoothest and easiest I had ever witnessed, but the whiteness in Kenshin's face when he was allowed back in the dojo showed how difficult it had been for him. After all of the fighting he had done out of love for her, this was one fight she had to do alone. He hated that. However, he loved being a father, even though Kenji on the surface seemed to prefer his mother. They both doted on him. Granted, I did too.

While we were head over heels for the kid, Yahiko was the only one that was really practical with him. With him probably being Kenji's main teacher since he was the heir to the Kamiya Kasshin style, that was probably best. Yahiko had matured in the past six years—he even payed rent now at the dojo—but was still as rough around the edges as ever. Tsubame was patiently working on that. Unknown to the two of them, Tai had started a secret gambling pool on when he would propose to the girl. I had bet in a year.

Thinking of Yahiko brought up a picture of the other rough around the edges guy I knew. Sanosuke Sagara. Last postcard he had sent me had been from Nepal, but that had been twelve months ago. I swallowed the urge to grunt in frustration. Yes, I understood why he had to leave. Kenshin had explained the run in with the cops. Still, a bit of me resented the idiot for it, especially with such a long period with no communication whatsoever. As disruptive as he had been, at times life had become a little _too_ peaceful. I couldn't believe it myself, but I _missed_ him.

"Who does that rooster head think he is?" I questioned, kicking a pebble, no longer paying great attention to my surroundings. After such a long day, my muscles were moving on autopilot.

Which was, I noted, not a great way to keep myself safe as someone grabbed my hand. I turned around and looked into the eyes of a man about my age. He was obviously drunk and he eyed me up and down, clearly itching for something. I rolled my eyes. "I'm not sure who you are, but you need to let go of me. You have three seconds."

"Please, Doc., my heart's broken and is in need of some medicine."

"Couldn't you be a bit more original than that? One"

He clenched my wrist tighter, edging me back towards the wall.

"Two"

Out of anger and fear my vision was starting to swirl. I thought I heard someone say my name and saw a blur racing towards myself and my captor.

"Three" I chocked, whipping and slicing with a knife I had tucked up my sleeve. My captor let out a cry of indignation, dropped my wrist, and flinched away. "I'm friends with some of the strongest fighters in Japan. I've picked up a thing or two over the years," I hissed.

As my vision focused, I felt another hand on my shoulder. Turning to strike, I froze. I was staring into the face of Sanosuke Sagara. Rooster head himself was in front of me.

"Clearly, we rubbed off on you," he whispered, turning to my attacker, eyes hard and dangerous. "I would listen to her and back off. I'd pummel you myself, but that seems like her right, not mine."

"Sano," I stuttered. "Is it really you?"

He gave that goofy yet sincere smirk of his. "Of course. Megumi, who else do I look like?"

It was too much; blackness overtook me.

I blinked and slowly sat up. I could smell something cooking. I was back home, and I wondered if everything last night had been a dream. Then I looked down. The familiar symbol for bad was staring back up on me. The jacket's owner himself appeared in the doorway, shattering any doubt I had about the reality of the situation. I stared in open amazement. He was as tall and gangly as ever, though he seemed to have gained some muscle mass in his upper shoulders. He had a slight beard. His hair was still spiky but was longer than before. It had a string of beads hanging down from a lock of it, a visual reminder their was part of his life I didn't know about.

"I'm glad to see you're up."

"When did you get here?"

"Yesterday. I came straight here, but the neighbors said you were out on call. I spent the rest of the day meeting Kenji and catching up at the dojo."

 _Wait, he stopped here before going to the dojo?_

He looked down and shuffled his feet slightly. "I didn't mean to scare you last night."

"I know." True, he had been coming to save me. "I was just surprised. I'm still a little disoriented." My heart sped up, and I jumped out of bed, earning a concerned step from him towards my direction. "Is it safe for you to even be here?"

"Yeah, the main guy I stirred up the trouble with is out of the limelight. Plus, the government has adopted some of the statues of limitations thingie that has come out of the west."

"Does this mean you can stay?"

"Yes"

Relieved and needing something to do with my hands, I turned around and quickly grabbed the kettle to heat up and stifled a scream at the heat that scorched my palm.

"Careful," Sano said, hurrying over, "I've already heated it for you. See what you've done. Sit down and tell me where you keep your bandages these days."

"Drawer over there."

He grabbed the supplies as well as some cold water and sat down beside me. "Hold still," he said as he started to gently wrap my hand. Butterflies erupted in my stomach. His touch was gentler than I remembered.

"You've gotten good at this."

"Well, I picked up some from you before I left. Plus, you pick up some random skills moving around like I have done."

I heard a bark outside.

"I also picked up a dog."

"House rule—the dog can't come in here."

He rolled his eyes. "I figured as much. Shinta is outside, so never fear."

"The beads?"

"I ran into some people who practiced similar methods to Anji. I earned these."

"I'm sure you had some great adventures," I mumbled, slight ice in my voice. Sano paused and sudden horror filled my chest as I looked up at him. In the past few years, Kenshin and his roles had reversed. Sano was the one wandering now. "You can stay, but do you _want_ to stay?"

"Do you miss having me around?"

"Well, if you're here, at least I know you're safe," I snapped, pulling away. "I see you having wrapping on your hand—who knows what damage you've caused yourself now. I'll have to look at it later!"

Sano ran a hand through his hair, reading the concern I was trying so hard to mask. "I'm sorry it has been awhile since I posted something to you."

"Twelve months," I clarified.

"Yes," he sighed, "I'm sorry. I was torn with the hope of maybe being able to sneak back in or my crime being forgotten about, worrying about you, and being so tongue-tied and not knowing what to say."

"Worried about me?"

"Yes, traveling gives you plenty of time for introspection. You're youngish, beautiful, and a doctor. You deserve happiness, and there was a good chance someone would step in after so many years. I didn't want to get in the way of that, no matter how much it hurt me."

I placed a finger on my chin, thinking, trying not to blush. "Huh, funny, I never thought of that being an issue. You've been part of my life for so long; I didn't think of it being something I would give up, dating or not. I've gone on a few dates, but nothing serious. They never felt right. I've accepted I'll be the spinster lady—I think."

Sano turned my chin back toward me. "I'm not accepting that, and I _do_ want to stay. I think that I might know someone perfect for you."

Hope pulsed through me. This moment right now felt . . . right, like I was complete. That's why none of my other dates had gone anywhere; they weren't with him. Why does it take so long to understand one's own heart? "Who do you suggest?" I whispered, voice cracking.

"Me," he whispered, voice cracking as well.

I felt tears falling down my face as I leaned into him. "I would be okay with that."

"Thank goodness," he whispered, burying himself into me, his lips sweetly on mine.


End file.
